New Orleans Saints: 4 Reasons Preseason Game vs. Texans Should Matter to Fans

The New Orleans Saints’ lackluster performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday gives fans even more reason to watch the Saints’ Aug. 25th matchup with the Houston Texans. 

The Saints played a forgettable game against the Jags, falling 27-24 in the final minute.

Jacksonville, 31st in the Associated Press Pro 32, scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds remaining to drop the Saints to 1-2 this preseason. 

While the preseason record isn’t a concern, performing at a high level is—especially with the scrutiny surrounding the Saints this season. 

New Orleans, ranked ninth in the AP Pro 32, had issues stopping a Jacksonville offense that finished last in the league last season.

The Saints simply couldn’t tackle the Jaguars and couldn’t find a rhythm offensively leading to a frustrated coach in Joe Vitt.

"I've got a lot of coaching to do, I was very, very disappointed in our tackling,” Vitt said to the Times-Picayune. 

Saints fans must have cringed in the second quarter. Tight end Jimmy Graham missed a block and Jacksonville defensive end Jeremy Mincey had a free shot on Drew Brees, forcing a fumble and shaking up the franchise quarterback.

Brees did return to the game and led a touchdown drive on the next possession. 

Vitt was still unhappy with his team’s protection of their franchise player. 

The Saints have some issues to shore up on both sides of the ball, which makes this week’s matchup against the Texans intriguing for all fans.

Rush Defense

New Orleans struggled to stop the Jacksonville rushing attack last weekend. 

The Jags rushed for 170 yards on 31 attempts, without Maurice Jones-Drew, who is still holding out. 

Current first-string running back Rashad Jennings rushed for 62 yards on 11 carries. The majority of those yards came against the first-unit defense for the Saints. 

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s zone-pressure defense is significantly different than the man-to-man, blitz defense run by former DC Gregg Williams. 

That’s left a significant learning curve for the Saints defense this preseason. 

With the league’s second-best rushing attack coming to New Orleans, led by top-rusher Arian Foster and Ben Tate, the Saints defense will need address the holes in their rush defense quickly.

Pass Defense

Not to continue to harp on the Saints defense, but second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert cut the Saints’ secondary up. 

Gabbert went 13-for-16 for 112 yards and two touchdowns. 

He connected with rookie receiver Justin Blackmon four times for 48 yards and one score.

The Saints defense has shown it can shut down offenses.

They held the New England Patriots and Tom Brady—in limited time— to seven points and just 279 yards of total offense.

Saints fans will be hoping that last week’s performance against the Jags was just a speed bump, and the league’s 24th-rated defense from 2011-12 is on the rise.

Brees and His (Other) Receivers

Drew Brees is one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL. He finished second last season in passer rating (110.6), behind only Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay. 

Brees has led the league in touchdowns in four of the last five seasons, but has thrown for just one this preseason. 

He has completed 15 of 22 passes this preseason but is still developing his timing with his new group of receivers. 

Marques Colston, Lance Moore and tight end Jimmy Graham are Brees’ top targets but the All-Pro quarterback uses far more than three receivers throughout the course of a game.

Courtney Roby, Andy Tanner, Travaris Cadet and Joseph Morgan continue to fight for the remaining receiver spots.

The chemistry they build with No. 9 over the next few weeks will be interesting to watch. They have a big matchup Saturday against Houston’s second-rated defense from last year (285.7 yards per game).

The Matchup

The final score doesn’t matter in the preseason as much as performance does. If one team’s third-group blows out the other team’s and skews the score, that’s of no consequence. 

But Saturday’s game, for at least a few series, will feature two championship-caliber teams. 

Houston went 10-6 last season and is the No. 6 team in the AP Pro 32. New Orleans went 13-3 and ranked No. 9 by AP. 

According to ESPN’s power rankings, Houston is sixth while New Orleans is 13th. 

It’s Houston’s second-rated defense and 13th-rated offense against New Orleans’ top-rated offense and 24th-rated defense.

This game has all the makings of a potential Super Bowl matchup in 2013. 

For the better part of the first half Saturday, the Saints and Texans will have something to play for. They have the opportunity to make a statement to themselves, and the rest of the league, that a Super Bowl is in sight. 

Matt Schaub vs. Drew Brees 

Marques Colston vs. Andre Johnson

Pierre Thomas/Mark Ingram vs. Arian Foster/Ben Tate 

NFC vs. AFC